After graduating from Purdue, John Samsen worked for several years as an Aeronautical Engineer. Deceiding that artistic design was what he really wanted to do, he proceeded to change careers and become an automotive "stylist" (later the title was changed to "designer"). With the guidance of designer friends at the Raymond Loewy Studebaker studios, he developed sketching and rendering techniques and created a portfolio of car concepts. In early 1952, he interviewed with Frank Hershey, chief of Ford car design, and was hired as a stylist and placed in the Ford Body Development Studio. Soon he and stylist Bill Boyer were assigned to design the clay model of a two-passenger sports car that became known as the Thunderbird.
After the Thunderbird was completed, Samsen was assigned to Gil Spear's Special Projects Studio where he designed most of the exterior of the Ford experimental car D-523 "Cougar". (pictures and information on this car are elsewhere on this website).
In 1955, John was recruited by Virgil Exner and left Ford for the Chrysler Corp. Designers who left the company were no longer mentioned in press releases, and their contributions were credited to designers who stayed with the company, so there was little mention of Samsen's contributions to Ford car design in the media until the 1990's, when he was "discovered" by automotive researchers. From 1955 until 1976, he worked in several styling studios at the Chrysler Corp., and contributed to the design of many cars that were produced during those years, including the famous "Mopar muscle cars". He designed the 1964 Barracuda roof, large back glass, and rear deck. He suggested the name "Barracuda". He developed the clay model for the 1967 Barracuda, and worked on concepts for the 1970 and 1973 'Cuda. His designs also appear on Dusters, GTX, Roadrunners, and other models. The "rally wheels" he designed are still seen on many "Mopar" cars at collector shows.
John Samsen left Chrysler Corp. in 1976 and worked as an independent designer doing design and illustration for many companies. During his design career, he pursued fine art painting as a second career, participating in many art societies and art shows. Many of his paintings are in private collections and he has been featured in magazines and books. Recently, one of his concept renderings from 1954 was selected to be part of an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and in 2006, will be touring Japan with the exhibit. His concept art was also displayed in the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, in 2005. A concept painting won first place at the 1996 Eyes on Classic Design show at Grosse Point MI, and Samsen's car art has recently been featured in Motor Trend Classics and Hemmings Classic Cars magazines
John enjoys painting in watermedia, and has learned to use computer painting programs as an aid to the design of his paintings.
In June, 2005, at the age of seventy-seven, John Samsen was a celebrity guest at the Carlisle PA "All-Ford Nationals" show, presenting his history of the 1955 Thunderbird for the 50th. anniversary celebration of that car.
In July, he was invited back to Carlisle for the "All Chrysler Nationals" where he gave talks about designing the Chrysler cars, and showed his car art.
In November, 2005, John participated in the Hilton Head Concours D'Elegance, again celebrating the Thunderbird's 50th. anniversary, and displaying his car art. In June, 2006, he presented at the biennial convention of the Classic Thunderbird Club International, in Witchita, and was inducted into the Classic Thunderbird Hall of Fame.
John continues to illustrate cars and paint landscapes and seascapes inspired by the "low-country" area where he lives with his wife "Tucky", near Hilton Head SC.
